Presented during the 2019 Bonner Summer Leadership Institute at Waynesburg University by Lindsey Forbes (University of Nevada, Reno). This workshop discussed the dangers of voluntourism and will challenge your thinking on international volunteering.

1. VOLUNTOURISM
A $2.6 Billion Industry

2. Agenda
■ Introductions
■ Bonner Connection
■ What is Voluntourism?
■ The Cost of Voluntourism:
Effective Altruism
■ The Rise of Voluntourism and
Celebrity Humanitarianism
■ Sustainable Development
■ What to look for in a Program
■ Wrap Up

3. Introductions
Name
Major
School
A Brief Statement on Your International Experience
Why Did you Choose This Workshop?

4. BONNER CORNERSTONE:
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Develop international understanding that enables Bonners
to participate successfully in a global community

5. “A FORM OF TOURISM IN
WHICH TRAVELERS
PARTICIPATE IN VOLUNTARY
WORK”

6. Who are the Stakeholders?
The Volunteers
• Generally Young College Aged Students
• Most come from North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand
The Volunteer Organizations
• Many do not have Non-Profit Status and actually profit financially from these
programs
• Brand trips as a way to “enhance their resumes”
The Host Communities
• Primarily based in Africa or South/Latin America
• Economies can benefit from rise in tourism
• Potentially gain exposure in fields such as “science, medicine, and infrastructure”
• Generally the poorest community in the country, not necessarily representative

7. WHAT KIND OF
PROGRAMS DO
WE SEE ABROAD
FOR
VOLUNTEERING?

8. What does voluntourism cost?
$2.6 Billion Dollars Annually
1.6 Million Participants
$1,625 per trip average

9. Malaria Nets
■ "The most effective means of preventing malaria is
sleeping under a mosquito net"
■ $2.00 a piece
■ Work for an average of 2 people at a time
■ Last for 3-4 years
■ = 812 Nets

10. Deworming a Child
■ Work to eliminate or reduce soil-transmitted infection (I.e.
roundworms, whipworms, and hookworms)
■ Average cost to deworm a child = $0.79 - $1.19
■ Needs to be repeated annually
■ = 1,365 children

11. Vitamin A
Supplements
■ Vitamin A deficiency leads
sight issues as well as
immune issues
■ $0.75 per supplement
■ Needed every 6 months in at
risk children
■ = 2,166 treatments

12. ■ "Cool Earth aims to fight global warming through fighting deforestation in the
rainforest"
■ Work with local communities to create sustainable agreements that ensure the local
communities won't sell rainforest land to loggers
■ Based on specific requests and needs of the community
■ Requests have included:
– Funding for schools
– Technical costs
– Provision of boats for emergency health evacuations

13. Band Aid and the
Ethnocentric Mindset
■ 1984 Release of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
– At the time of release, it was the fastest selling
single of all time in the UK
– Donated profits to the famine crisis in Ethiopia
■ Re-Recorded 3-More Times
– 1989 and 2004 for famine relief
– 2014 for the Ebola Crisis in West Africa
■ Sparked a movement of celebrity humanitarianism
■ Reinforce this idea that we need to bring our aid or
essentially our culture to “less fortunate people”

14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJLqyuxm96k
RADI-AID

15. Sustainable Development is Key
■ Length of Program is Important
– Short term programs don’t work
– There should be a long-term plan for the community after the volunteers leave
■ Host Communities Begin to Rely on Volunteers – Need an Exit Plan
– Communities become less likely to purchase health insurance because they know
another free clinic will show up
– Children are sent to orphanages because of poverty, disability or discrimination to
receive "services" and they are at risk for exploitation and attachment issues
■ “Helping people is [commendable] but where possible, it’s better to help others help
themselves.” - The Local Strategy

16. There’s A Difference Between Skilled
and Unskilled Volunteers
Skilled
■ Trained professionals providing a
service they are qualified to do
■ Potentially takes jobs away from the
local community
■ Fluent or proficient in local
language
■ Examples: Engineers, Doctors,
Carpenters, Construction Workers,
etc.
Unskilled
■ Someone without experience who is
learning on the job
■ Potentially takes jobs away from the
local community
■ Often “observe” in medical clinics
providing little support to the local
community

17. What To
Look For
When
Choosing a
Program...
The needs have been
set out by the local
community
It's sustainable There's no local
alternative
It doesn't involve
vulnerable populations
such as children
There's a skills match There's evidence of
impact and
transparency in cost
You're not being "sold
to"
You must apply to
volunteer

18. Wrap Up
■ Look for international volunteer organizations that have a vetting process and long-
term commitment rather than a vacation package that includes a few days of
volunteering
■ Research the culture before any trip abroad but don't assume you know the culture
based on your research
■ Be a Traveler Not a Tourist: Local shops, restaurants, and lodging
■ It's okay to go abroad and not volunteer – just be realistic on what you can
accomplish in the time you can commit

19. References
■ Against Malaria Foundation (2019). "Why nets?" Retrieved from https://www.againstmalaria.com/WhyNets.aspx
■ Chamberlin, K. (2015). "Voluntourism 101: The Dos and DOn'ts for Planning a Volunteer Vacation" U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved from
https://travel.usnews.com/features/voluntourism-101-the-dos-and-donts-for-planning-a-volunteer-vacation.
■ Geldof, B. (2014). "Band Aid 30: clumsy, patronizing and wrong in so many ways". The Guardian retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/11/band-aid-30-patronising-bob-geldof-ebola-do-they-know-its-christmas
■ Hartman, E., Paris, C.M., & Blache-Cohen, B. (2014). "Fair trade learning: Ethical standards for community-engaged international volunteer tourism". Tourism and
Hospitality Research retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358414529443.
■ Hope and homes for children. (2019). "What is wrong with orphanage volunTourism?". Retrieved from
https://www.hopeandhomes.org/blog-article/orphanage-voluntourism/.
■ Kascak, L. (2017). "#InstagrammingAfrica: The narcissism of global voluntourism". Pacifica Standard. Accessed from
https://psmag.com/economics/instagrammingafrica-narcissism-global-voluntourism-83838.
■ McCall, D & Iltis, A.S. (2014). "Health Care Voluntourism: Addressing Ethical Concerns of Undergraduate Student Participation in Global Health Volunteer Work". HEC
Forum retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-014-9243-7
■ McGloin, C. & Georgeou, N. (2015). "Looks good on your CV: The sociology of voluntourism recruitment in higher education. " Journal of Sociology retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783314562416
■ Ulaby, N. (2014). "Do they know it's Christmas? Raises hackles as well as dollars". National Public Radio retrieved from
https://www.npr.org/2014/11/19/365151023/-do-they-know-it-s-christmas-raises-hackles-as-well-as-dollars.
■ Withrow, B. (2019). "The Hidden Dangers of Volunteer Tourism" Daily Beast. Retrieved from https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-hidden-dangers-of-volunteer-tourism
https://drive.google.com/file/d/
1w_M_lcqvgqpY1pxKoNy74Gdn6wkDI6OB/view?usp=sharing
https://tinyurl.com/BonnerVoluntourismSLI